To be a Tiger's Shadow
by TealEyedBeing
Summary: What if Sasuke's story had been a lot like Kasuga's? Where he betrayed a past master and decided to stay with Yukimura once he found him as a young Crimson Devil of Kai? AUish canon pre-series. Warnings/Disclaimer & full summary inside.


_**Warnings/Disclaimer: **__I don't own anything relating to the Sengoku Basara franchise. I just like borrowing their characters and putting them into situations the anime probably wouldn't be allowed to do xD Warnings include __**yaoi**__, and a sort of AU/canon type crossover (see next italicized paragraph below) with OOCness included. I believe that's all… I draw a lot of stuff from the various manga, so Yukimura is a bit more serious here than he is in the anime. Takes place before the series._

_In this fic, it still takes place within the Sengoku Basara feudal era just like in the anime, but it's AU because I tweaked Sasuke's and Yukimura's storyline into one more resembling Kasuga and her beloved Lord Kenshin x3 SO! _Instead_ of Sasuke having always been with Yukimura since childhood, I wrote it _so that_ Sasuke is sent on a mission to Kai, becomes attached to Yukimura, and becomes Yukimura's ninja instead (hence betraying/deserting his previous master and becoming a failure of his ninja tribe – aka just like Kasuga). So when the fic starts, Sasuke only knows who Yukimura is through second hand information and is JUST NOW meeting him- no prior connection. Kay? Understand? All good? Good! :D read on!_

* * *

><p><strong>~x~<strong>

**To be a Tiger's Shadow**

**~x~**

It was going to be a short, simple mission, Sasuke mused as he followed on the tail end of the scouting group he was accompanying, with the head shinobu of their division in the obvious lead and trailing behind three other underlings. Sasuke didn't much like considering himself beneath others of his own class, but could at least admit that the head shinobu here did at least have a few more years of experience under his belt, but barely that in true skill. Some could say that this was overconfident of Sasuke to think, but they were his own thoughts and he thought it instead probable fact.

But disregarding all that, Sasuke was on a mission with four other shinobu, head included, to spy on the enemy land of Kai. He thought that just one ninja would have been more than enough, but it wasn't his place to question his current master's orders, so he kept quiet like he was expected to and followed along on this little field trip.

Oh honestly, if one couldn't tell already, Sasuke didn't like his current job, employer, or fellow shinobu at all. Each ninja in service to the master was from a different tribe, which Sasuke supposed the master thought this was smart thinking on his part to have so many specialized shinobu under his command, but he soiled his own plans by grouping them together into missions, which often led to a silent bickering of the conflicting styles which made missions longer and more tenuous.

Sasuke liked to just go ahead on his own while the others stayed back and bickered which plan to take, often accomplishing the mission much faster and much more successfully too, but then his disobedience of the head shinobu's orders to stay behind and work together with the other ninja just as often led Sasuke into punishment, resulting in many large scars that Sasuke only shrugged his shoulders and took. His master paid him well for accomplishing the mission quickly, and Sasuke could care less about anything besides that. If it weren't for his training to obey those superior, Sasuke wouldn't stand to take the beatings at all. But as it were, he was _very_ well trained and obeyed them to a fault.

Frankly, Sasuke was rather sick and tired of this job, but as a faithful ninja, he had to remain for as long as the current master remained alive and paid for his services, and Sasuke _would_ stay, as he had been taught to. He just hoped things improved before he wasted all his training, betrayed his tribe, and abandoned his current master, because the temptation was high enough already.

The mission was to stake out the Takeda Manor, base of operations for the land of Kai, for a few days, keeping all movement under observation because the master wanted to know if his greatest threat was preparing for a war- a menial task if there ever was one. Sasuke once again thought that this assignment could have easily been accomplished by one shinobu alone, but the thought would only continue to go in circles he'd already long pondered over, so the ninja dismissed it and claimed a tree overlooking an open courtyard as his post of observation.

Sasuke trusted his mix of green camouflaged clothes and black armor to keep him near-invisible in the heavy foliage and deep cover of night, settling himself in between the upwards slant of a branch and the trunk, and waited for daylight to break.

Hours later, the sun had just peeked over the horizon when a screen door towards the near end of the hall slammed open as if timed with the rising sun. A brunette, still clad in sleepwear, happily hopped out into the courtyard and faced the dawn, patiently waiting for the glowing orb to peek its way over the building and let its rays fall into the courtyard.

Sasuke was a bit perturbed when he couldn't immediately identify the gender of the brunette. The figure had long chocolate tresses, a slim but tall figure with bare feet that were larger than most women. As the sun finally peeked over the roof and lit the brown crown of tresses with gleaming shines of chestnut, the figure lifted both arms and shouted to the heavens.

"Oyakata-sama! Bless this Yukimura with yet another bright day of training!"

Sasuke had to suppress a snort. Okay so definitely male. Though judging by the pitch of the yell, the man was still in his youth, if not adolescence, which somewhat surprised Sasuke upon further consideration. If this young man, a mere teenager, had called himself Yukimura and lived in the Takeda Manor, chances were extremely high that this youth was _the_ Sanada Yukimura just about everyone knew about.

He was the would-be-successor-in-training of the great Tiger of Kai, Lord Takeda Shingen, and he was known as the Crimson Devil among some parts for his great enthusiasm in battle and sheer skill with two red spears that matched his red armor. And this exuberant _youth_ yelling at the sunrise in his sleepwear was that general? Very amusing, but with only evidence to support so and no real reason to doubt, Sasuke noted the man's figure and settled in to watch for the day, and probably next few days. Regarding his mission, Sasuke had staked out a pretty good spot to learn information about Kai's esteemed young war general.

Sasuke watched as a maid brought breakfast to Yukimura, and was again amused at how ravenously the boy ate as if he was in a great hurry. The brown haired teenager darted back inside his room without closing the door, presumably to change into his daywear finally. The ninja arched an eyebrow in disbelief when Yukimura next emerged in his telltale crimson attire, which left nearly his entire midriff exposed and unprotected.

Sasuke easily admitted that he blatantly stared at the toned muscle put on display, appreciating the eye candy certainly, but uncomprehending the logic behind it. Was the boy simply overconfident and showing off his ability to keep from being wounded on the major part of his body, or just purely ignorant or naïve? The ninja noted this little curiosity and mentally tasked himself with finding out the answer over the next few days. For the mission's sake, of course. An overconfident brat could easily be his own downfall.

Yukimura practiced alone with suits of armors, admittedly extremely skilled in the way he handled his twin spears with graceful twirls and deadly stabs and swipes. His enthusiastic war cries, and often enough a shout to his lord, never faltered in strength despite the passing hours. He only broke for water and a brief lunch, then returned to his seemingly self-assigned duty of demolishing suits of armor.

Surprisingly, Sasuke was not bored with the day's proceedings. Regarding his mission, the ninja was easily learning the young samurai's technique. From there, the shinobu satisfied his earlier personal interest by concluding that the teenager was just merely naïve- though perhaps strangely innocent in his nature, despite being a known battle obsessed warrior who beheaded defeated lords. The choice in armor was simply that, a choice in mobility free from the restriction of a heavy chest plate. Though the teen would probably be suited to plated, linked armor like Sasuke himself wore if he wanted mobility, the ninja mused, and be protected at the same time. Though why he was even thinking of suggesting it amused Sasuke, because why should he care that an enemy general left his entire midriff open to both ogling and attacks. It would only give his current master's army an easier job in defeating Yukimura. Though Sasuke seriously doubted that his master's undertrained army could even scratch that flawlessly tan skin when the boy wielded his spears with such skill and energy.

Sasuke heaved a sigh and shifted his weight, then crossed his arms. It had been a long day. He was in need of a nap, sore from this tree, and a bit hungry too. The sun was setting though, and after amusedly watching Yukimura repeat his morning performance only with the sun setting and a thank you to his lord, the boy turned in for sleep and the ninja was free to investigate further. This probably wasn't allowed, he thought, even as he dropped down from his tree and slunk in close to the wall of the Takeda manor. They were supposed to just watch, not infiltrate and steal information, but Sasuke was bored and he always did more to get the mission over faster anyways so why bother worrying about the punishment- if he was even found out. Like a common proverb said, it's only stealing if you get caught.

The patrolling guards were much more vigilant than his master's own guards, but they were still drowsy men tired from a long day and tended not to pay much closer attention to the shadows than they did anything else, so Sasuke easily waited and darted about in the gloom of the courtyard until he could slip inside the house. Being closed in by four walls unnerved Sasuke initially, but he tampered down the impulse to get out and instead started silently rooting around the room. He wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for, but hopefully he'd just stumble upon something, though he doubted that as well. He'd heard that the great Tiger of Kai was a brilliant tactician, and such a man was highly improbable to leave battle plans lying around in a spare room, but at this point just about anything would do.

Sasuke paused at finding a smooth, round stone hidden in one of the drawers. It appeared insignificant for all purposes besides sentimental, but who did it belong to? It hardly seemed relevant in his search for information, but something about it still held his hand and the shinobu stared at it for a while longer. The metal on his gloves made the faintest clinking sounds against the stone's hard surface, and unbidden, an ache began to develop in Sasuke's chest. Ah so that's what this was… a soulful reminder of a past deceased; a memento of loneliness. He should have realized earlier that this stone was one plucked from a river now run dry on the lands that used to be held by Yukimura's father, the deceased Lord Sanada Masayuki. The man had been killed when Sasuke had been a mere teen himself, but the ninja doubted that a lot of people knew his son lived on fighting for Kai, despite sharing the family name.

Giving an impulsive squeeze to the stone, Sasuke released a low breath and respectfully tucked the stone back into its place. Honestly, what was he doing, digging into the personal affairs of young Yukimura, especially his lonely childhood. What did it matter? It didn't, exactly. But the unrelenting ache in Sasuke's chest insisted otherwise. It _did_ matter. But _why_ did it matter?

Sasuke retreated from the room and returned to his tree for the night without an answer for his question.

The following day was largely the same as before. Yukimura ran outside at the crack of dawn, yelled the same thing as yesterday, ate his breakfast, dressed in his ridiculous armor, and trained on countless suits. However, the teenager had paused for a long moment, just staring down at the ground where a pretty smooth circle had accidentally been drawn into the dust somehow during his training. With a pang in his chest, Sasuke recognized the shape. The circle bore a striking resemblance to the stone he had discovered last night. It was a near perfect duplicate of its smooth shape, despite being remarkably bigger. Yukimura must have stared at it for several long minutes before he stepped forwards- a stumbled, jerky movement that contrasted harshly to his earlier smooth motions- and smudged the circle out with his foot. The ache in Sasuke's chest grew and the ninja didn't try to stop it. The forlorn loneliness he saw etched in those shoulders was near heartbreaking, but Sasuke couldn't figure out _why_ it hurt _him_ to see it. Yukimura continued to train and Sasuke continued to watch.

When night fell, Yukimura's yell was even more enthusiastic than the morning's call, and Sasuke could understand why. From the loneliness of his childhood, Lord Takeda Shingen has probably been the only one to show young Yukimura any kind of so much positive attention, that it was no wonder the boy held such loyalty and devotion to the man. Truly, it was a case of neglected child, and despite being raised by many shinobu, Sasuke himself was never gifted with any affection either, from his real parents or "guardians" otherwise. He had given up on ever feeling the warmth of another's praise and attention, but desired to give it to someone who needed it, since _he_ hadn't had it. And though Yukimura was certainly better off than he, as the boy had his lord, Sasuke still wished that the lonely brunette could be the recipient of more affection- wished that _he_ could be the one to give it.

Sasuke was getting in too deep- much too quickly. Faced with such a lonely unprotected soul and combined with his current dissatisfaction with a bumbling master, Sasuke _wanted_ to be _Yukimura's_ ninja. His prior tired thoughts of betrayal were suddenly very real and at the forefront of his mind, being put to the test of vigorous deliberation. It had been a _very_ long time since Sasuke had ever _wanted_ something, and something so badly at that. Was it worth it? To betray his master and his ninja tribe that had raised him to forever serve one master for as long as they wanted him? To break his tribe's flawless reputation and be viewed as a failure among other shinobu for serving another because he _wanted_ to? _Was it worth it?_

He wasn't given further time to deliberate because another ninja, one who had accompanied him on this field trip and had been stationed on the far side of the Takeda manor for the past two days, suddenly landed beside him.

"New orders, Sarutobi." The shinobu said quickly- sharp and to the point, like always. "We're to assassinate Sanada Yukimura to impede the Tiger's progress. Follow me, we're discussing how to go about it." The ninja flitted off, back where he had come from.

Sasuke automatically moved to his feet, but there his muscles locked as the words circled in his head. Assassinate… Yukimura… impede… how to go about it… They were going to kill a lonely young man. But didn't they see how he was suffering already? Especially for being such an attractive, admittedly beautiful young man, Yukimura was nearly lonelier than ever? What Sanada needed was someone who was always with him, someone who stayed by his side whenever he wanted him, someone who could protect him and give him warmth during the long, cold lonely nights. Someone…

Sasuke gritted his teeth and angrily raked fingers through his hair. Why the hell was Yukimura so firmly implanted in his head? It was like the brunette had plunged a hand into his chest and taken hold of his heart in just the two days of watching him and finding that blasted stone. It was ridiculous, it was stupid, and it was ill-advised of Sasuke to even be considering staying with Yukimura just because he felt lust towards the man, and then sympathy towards his childhood. Preposterously stupid, a dreadful reasoning to betray everything he had known up until then if there ever was one. It was just-

The other shinobu must have gotten tired of waiting for him, if they even had, and decided to just go ahead of him this time, because they were now down in the courtyard and streaking silently to Yukimura's room. Sasuke's mind just blanked in a white panic and he flashed down from the tree in a black blur of darkness. His fingers were full of a sharp weapon immediately, and his gaze was nothing beyond analytical, calculating absence as he swiftly slew each of the other four ninja- having used their obliviousness to his advantage because they had never expected Sasuke to betray them.

Standing in the middle of four dead bodies, each with a slit throat and bruised jaw where he had roughly covered their mouth to avoid alerting the others, Sasuke didn't believe what he had just done without realizing. He had killed his allies, betrayed his master's trust, and now the tribe's name would be tarnished. He had no place to return to, and he was stripped of what little honor he had as a ninja. He knew it, because he heard the swift departure of the other shinobu that had arrived to give them the new orders, and he knew his previous master would be shocked and infuriated but unable to do anything more because Sasuke had just cut his supply of shinobu in half. The man would need time to gather funds and hire more, but until then, Sasuke was at a complete loss.

"Hello? Who's out there?"

Sasuke tensed, preparing to flee, but his muscles locked when he again realized he had nowhere to go, and he essentially froze, allowing Yukimura ample time to open his screen door and lay astonishingly bright brown eyes upon Sasuke and the other four dead ninja in his courtyard. Predictable, those beautiful eyes widened in shock at seeing what was displayed there, and Sasuke's legs went weak.

The ninja sunk to his knees and dropped his blade, which were still wet with others blood. With shaking arms, Sasuke bowed and pressed his forehead to the wet grass. "Forgive me…" His voice was terribly hoarse and cracked from disuse, and added to the emotional turmoil suddenly shoving in a violent whirlwind within him, it was a wonder he was heard at all. "Forgive me… I just… they were- I was…I just had to… I couldn't…" His words weren't coming out right at all, and Sasuke dug his fingers into the grass and pressed his eyes shut.

"Were they trying to kill me?" Yukimura's voice was surprisingly quiet and calm, but it only yanked at Sasuke's heart all the more. A voice like that showed that this had only happened before, and luckily the attempt had been foiled just like it had been tonight.

Sasuke nodded as he best could with his forehead pressed to the ground. "Yes…"

"You killed them. You saved me. Why? Who are you?" The voice was still very quiet, but it was lighter with something resembling wary gratitude and- what made Sasuke grit his teeth at the unbearable ache in his chest- extremely faint hope.

"My…" His voice cracked, so he tried again. "My name is Sarutobi Sasuke… I killed them to save you… yes… because… because I _wanted_ to. Because I didn't want them to hurt you. Because you're already hurt, and I don't want you to be hurt anymore. But I… I can't be by your side. I wanted to, but I can't, because it was my mission too. But I couldn't do it. They were attacking and my head just blanked and I killed them all without realizing it and you're alive and safe and that's all that matters now… all that matters…" Sasuke's words were terribly muffled in the grass, and even if Yukimura did hear all that he had garbled, it was highly unlikely he had even understood any of it.

Here he was, a complete stranger, confessing to killing his allies with shady motives and proclaiming a near-love for the young man he had been ordered to kill but had disobeyed. It was stupid. _**He**_ was stupid. What had he been thinking? Oh that's right, he hadn't thought- his body had just reacted without prompting and protected what it apparently had already decided what it wanted to protect. His body wanted Yukimura. His mind scolded him for being stupid. His heart ached to provide the comfort and love that Yukimura so desperately needed.

Sasuke cursed himself harshly, out loud and into the dark, because he had fallen for the harshest taboo of a ninja- he loved someone. And it was an enemy general to boot. "Damn it… Damn it all… what's wrong with me… Why do I… It's you, just you that's ever done this to me… Why me… and why _you_…?"

A hand landed gently on his head and Sasuke flinched. He hadn't even heard Yukimura move; he'd been so lost within his own turmoil. He'd expected a blow or more confused questions, certainly not the gently stroking hands in his hair- though everything he was had craved for it and now basked in it. Sasuke didn't resist when the hands coaxed him up, so that the ninja was kneeling now.

Sasuke refused to lift his eyes though, knowing he would only be eternally lost if he looked into those eyes now- as if he wasn't already, he mentally snorted. The hands were surprisingly smooth against his neck, despite the spears they handled every day. The ninja's headguard was removed, though Sasuke could only speculate why. The darker side of him sniped that it was so that it would be easier to hit him. So he flinched again when the hands cupped his cheeks, but they remained soft and Yukimura leaned his forehead against Sasuke's.

"…do you love me?" Yukimura breathed, sounding so light and airy, floating with happiness and sheer hope that his long wished joy had finally come to pass.

Sasuke's throat clogged and constricted, so he could only nod weakly. He swallowed roughly, because he needed to say this. "I-I do… Kami help me understand how and why I do, but I do love you… Sanada Yukimura… Danna… I was sent here to spy on Kai, then killed those who were my allies when I was supposed to be helping them kill _you_, and Kami help me I love you only after knowing you for two days. I'm a sorry mess…" His chuckle was forced and bitter, self-mocking.

Yukimura's fingers clenched briefly on his temples to combat Sasuke's negative words. "It's okay, Sasuke, I don't know why either, and maybe we'll never know. But I'm still here because of you, and now you're here with me because of what you did, and maybe we were always supposed to be together but you're just a little late in coming, ne?" The brunette was happy- he sounded so happy.

Sasuke didn't answer, didn't know how he could to that. So maybe Yukimura was still naïve and a battle-nerd, but he could be frighteningly insightful when it came to things that mattered- apparently. Sasuke had never believed in fate and destiny before tonight, but he could suppose it was just a little bit late (or maybe just right on time) when it came to him.

The shinobu's eyes wandered to the left, and he jolted when he saw a tall intimidating man standing there watching. The man could only be Lord Takeda Shingen, that calculating gaze and broad form could be no other. And yet he only continued to stand there and observe as his young protégée kneeled on the ground in an intimate position with a stranger, a shinobu who had killed four others of his kind for unknown reasons. Would he think this was a trick to infiltrate the manor and gain their trust?

Yukimura tilted his head suddenly, bringing Sasuke back immediately (and instantly forgetting about Shingen) as their lips came alarmingly close. "I need someone…" Yukimura whispered. "Someone who will stay beside me for always. You can be that someone, okay Sasuke? You'll stay beside me?"

Sasuke swallowed. "But-" The ninja swore he felt his brain short circuit as Yukimura kissed him, just like that, to interrupt him. The brunette pulled away and repeated his question.

"Will you Sasuke? Stay beside me?"

Throat constricted and dry as a dessert, Sasuke could only finally lift his eyes to stare into beautiful eyes that were only the windows to an even more gorgeous pure soul, and he was well and purely _lost_. He nodded, and Yukimura's smile was brighter than any star, and his embrace warmer than any fire.

And just like that, two souls found one another and built _home_.

* * *

><p><em>So yeah, I got this idea late last night, wrote the introduction piece in my math class, came back to my dorm and spent three hours typing the rest of it, approximately 3,500 words of it. A rough estimate. Anyways, so yeah, there you have it. Did you like it? :)<em>


End file.
